Archive for March, 2015

Remember, the darker it gets, the brighter and farther our little light shines!

Maranatha, Lord come quickly!

myblessedhope

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Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.

In Romans 10 Paul lays out how salvation is open to all, Jew and Gentile. He writes:

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4-5

What he is saying is now it is not about works or how closely to a “T” you follow the law. But that it is through God’s gift of grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. It is really that simple, and yet a hard step for some of us.

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9

Christ is the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14), through faith in Him you will be saved. It is the only “works” that God requires for eternal salvation.

It is The Gospel of Jesus Christ. To learn more check out the following link.

“Watchmen on the wall,” that’s how Ezekiel describes the prophets of Israel whom God had appointed to warn His wayward people of impending judgment. God tells the prophet, “When I say to the wicked, O wicked man you shall surely die’ and do not speak to warn the wicked from their way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.”

Christians who are called to this duty must comply or also face God’s displeasure. This is no easy task since atheism and secularism is on the rise, especially in our country. Thus, a handful of watchmen have been warning others for many years now, as God in His mercy always gives sufficient warning before He acts decisively. God, our Creator, derives no pleasure in bringing judgment on his creation.

In fact, He would have all people everywhere repent and seek His face. This small number of prophets, evangelists and preachers carry what for most would seem to be a very heavy burden of shouting out a warning or reprimand to willful sinners, calling for repentance.

They who see these things coming down the pike through spiritual eyes in light of the scriptures are truly blessed and prepared to meet their maker, regardless of the circumstances they find themselves in. Today, even half-baked Christians know something is going on and live their lives in fear as they see the world falling apart.

On the other hand, there are some who are so far gone that they are becoming willfully depraved and even evil as (more…)

My favorite philosopher, Yogi Berra, who provides the world such profundities as “If you don’t go to other people’s funerals, they won’t go to yours,” issued the most famous of all in 1961, after watching Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle hit back-to-back home runs. “It’s Deja Vu all over again!”

I’m getting a sense similar to that Yogi must have felt upon watching his teammates hit all those homers that year. Only, the feeling isn’t so exhilarating as I’m sure was Yogi’s experience. As a matter of fact, the sense is ominous–one of history repeating as the stage for the fulfilling of prophecy is being set by the grand deceiver of humankind.

My view of that earlier era, of course, is through the prism of the study of history. I wasn’t quite on the scene as yet when it took place. I’m referring to the time when Adolf Hitler was on the rise and made a pact with his nemesis to his east, Josef Stalin, the Soviet dictator. The German and Soviet tyrants signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in August, 1939. Hitler roped in his bitter enemy in convincing him to sign in order that the Fuhrer not have to worry about being opposed by the Soviets in his assault on Poland. Stalin wanted to make sure his Soviet Empire was free from war in order to build his military into the powerful war-making machine it would one day become.

The deja vu comes into the picture for our purposes in this commentary in thinking upon recent developments taking place between the new Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is a most fascinating deja vu, to be sure. And, again, it is one that is ominous.

There is being much made in recent days of the similarities between Alexis Tsipras and the Bible’s description of the person who will be Antichrist. I agree with most of the comparisons. They are striking in some instances. However, there have been many striking comparisons to world leaders throughout the centuries to what the Word of God says about that Son of Perdition.

Adolf Hitler was, as most everyone who knows anything about the Biblical description of Antichrist understands, a dictator who seemed to fill the bill as the first beast of Revelation in many ways. The German Fuhrer came and went, however, and the world yet wags on toward its fate, the last seven years of which will be ruled to great extent by the actual Antichrist. (more…)

Remember, the darker it gets, the brighter and farther our little light shines!

Maranatha, Lord come quickly!

myblessedhope

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.

In Romans 10 Paul lays out how salvation is open to all, Jew and Gentile. He writes:

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4-5

What he is saying is now it is not about works or how closely to a “T” you follow the law. But that it is through God’s gift of grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. It is really that simple, and yet a hard step for some of us.

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9

Christ is the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14), through faith in Him you will be saved. It is the only “works” that God requires for eternal salvation.

It is The Gospel of Jesus Christ. To learn more check out the following link.

So often what we receive is a thin layer of Christian doctrine, history, and overall understanding of God’s word, but there is so much more. As you dive into God’s word, it comes alive and I am constantly amazed at the depths of the wisdom and the foreshadowing that is on every page of the Bible when we take the time to explore it.

It really is true, “seek and ye shall find”.

Jack Kelly does a great job unpacking the Olivet Discourse as you may not have heard it before.

Remember, the darker it gets, the brighter and farther our little light shines!

Students of prophecy often pay more attention to Matthew’s version of the Olivet Discourse because of its greater length and detail. But when we bypass Luke’s account, we miss one third of the Lord’s message. That’s because the disciples asked the Lord three questions and in Matthew 24 He only answered the last two. Also, it’s Luke’s answer to their first question that confirms the whole message as it relates to the end times.

Here’s why: When a prophet revealed events that would take place beyond the lifetimes of the people he was speaking to, the Lord often provided a short term partial fulfillment to validate the distant prophecy. This is because He had told the people that if what a prophet said didn’t come true, then the people were not to fear him, for he hadn’t spoken for the Lord (Deut 18:21-22).

There are numerous partial fulfillments in Scripture that would serve as good examples of this, but perhaps the clearest one comes from John 5:43. Speaking to Israel, Jesus said, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.” He was referring to the Antichrist, who many in Israel will believe to be the Messiah when he comes on the scene at the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week.

But just before Jesus was handed over to be executed, Pilate offered to free Him as a sign of Roman mercy, traditionally expressed on Passover. He gave the people a choice, the innocent Jesus who came in His Father’s name or a convicted killer named, Barabbas, who came in his own name. The people chose Barabbas. It was the partial fulfillment that validated the Lord’s prophecy of Israel and the Antichrist in the 70th Week.

And as we’ll see, the destruction of Jerusalem in 69AD was the partial fulfillment that validated the Lord’s prophecy of the End Times. Let’s take a look.

Luke 21:5-36

“Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, ‘As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.’ ‘Teacher,’ they asked, ‘When will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?’” (Luke 21:5-7).

According to Mark 13:3, it was Peter, James, John and Andrew who asked. And in Matt. 24:3 we can read their complete question. “When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

This is our first hint that things will be different in Luke’s account. He only has the disciples asking the first question, the one about their immediate future.

Some of you are aware that I post a “Question of the Day” on Face Book each day. Recently one of these questions received more comments than any other we’ve ever posted by a wide margin.

It concerned a woman’s frustration because in a recent conversation her friends confirmed that they believe in an any moment Rapture but then went on to tell her their plans for the next 10-20 years, what they expect to do when they retire, what kind of career they hope their children will have, and how they can’t wait to have grandchildren. She felt like they were just paying lip service to the nearness of the Rapture and were more focused on their long term hopes and plans for this world.

I agreed with her, saying that what people pay attention to in their lives gives you a clue as to what their intentions are for their life. When people spend more time talking about their long range plans for their life in this world than they do about their longing for the Lord to return for the church and what they’re doing for Him while they wait, it tells us they intend to be here for a long time.

The comments I received in response to this posting were all over the place. A few agreed with the questioner, but most thought there is nothing wrong with making long term plans for our lives because we can’t know for sure when He’s coming. And more than one person said, “We can’t just abandon our lives and go camp on a hill waiting for Him.”

Several quoted the phrase “Occupy until I come” from the Parable of the Ten Minas (Luke 19:11-27) as their justification for making long term worldly plans, but I wonder how many of us realize the context in which the Lord said this.

In the parable, a man of noble birth was going on an extended trip and was leaving his servants in charge of a portion of his wealth saying, “Occupy till I come.”

As you know a parable is a heavenly story put into an earthly context where every character is fictional and represents an actual one. In the Parable of the Ten Minas the man of noble birth represents Jesus, and His servants represent us.

The Greek word translated “occupy” in the King James translation of Luke 19:13 can mean to be occupied in anything, but in the context of the parable it means to “carry on a business.” In place of “occupy till I come” some English translations have the nobleman saying, “Put this money to work until I come back.” Others say, “Engage in business with this until I return.”

While there are a number of ways in which different translations convey this idea, I didn’t find a single one that indicated the nobleman was just telling his servants to idly wait for him as in “camping on a hill.” Nor did I find one that had the nobleman telling them to do whatever they wanted while he was gone. They all conveyed the idea that he expected them to conduct his business on his behalf using the resources he was leaving with them.

Therefore, the phrase “Occupy until I come” doesn’t mean we’re free to live our life according to whatever priorities we’ve established while we wait for the Rapture. It means we’re to be occupied in the work He’s given us until He returns, and have something to show for it. The fact that the nobleman criticized the servant who preserved the money he’d been given but didn’t increase it at all lends credence to this interpretation. He expected a return on his capital.

What Work Has He Given Us?

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1).

Romans 12:1-2 could be called Paul’s interpretation of the phrase “Occupy until I come.” I say that because the Greek word translated “worship” in Romans 12:1 is not the one that would normally be used. In fact, it actually means “service” and that’s the way many translations render it. The King James translation calls it our “reasonable service”. In Romans 12:1 Paul urged us to offer ourselves to God to perform whatever service He has in mind for us as our response to the mercy He has shown us. And how are we supposed to know what that is? Verse 2 gives us the answer. (more…)

God’s Word:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." -- Ephesians 2:8-10